Connector for electric conductors.



E. H. FAILE.

CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.I6.19I4.

nnw 1 9 1 0 2 Q l I H J 0 9 IT D Q t a D1 l/VVENTOR WITNESSES."

A TTOR/VE Y EDWARD HALL FAILE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

ineaosa.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD HALL FAILE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Connectors for Electric Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in terminals for cables and other electric conductors, and more particularly, to that type in which the end of the conductor is soldered into a socket or casing member.

My presentinvention contemplates the in-' corporating of the solder ina metal socket having an anchorage for the solder so that the two form a single article of manufacture and sale adapted at any time to receive the end of the cable. By applying heat to the exterior of the socket, the solder may be melted at the instant it is desired to use the same. The main essential feature of my invention involves the forming of the socket with a portion of the chamber of greater transverse dimension than the opening of the socket through which the cable is inserted and the incorporation of the solder in the form of a transverse wall within the socket so that it will be permanently retained therein and prevented from loosening or accidental removal during the shipment of the socket. When the solder is melted by the application of heat to the exterior of the socket, it may flow endwise of the cable into the annular space within the socket around the cable end, and after it has cooled, its engagement with the roughened or irregular surface of the cable and with the converging wall of the socket will act to positively prevent the withdrawal of the cable from the socket even though the solder should not properly adhere to the surface of either the socket or the strands of the cable.

I do not wish to be limited to the specific construction of the socket or of the shoulder of the latter, as said shoulder may be formed by a surface either at right angles or inclined in either direction to the axis of the cable, and may, if desired, be duplicated to form a plurality of separate or connected shoulders. The quantity of solder may vary and, in fact, instead of using solder, any other readily fusible metal or alloy could be employed which will conduct the electric current from the cable to the socket, and will be sufficiently hard when cold. The

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 20', 191%.

Application filed September 16, 1914. Serial No. 862,027.

fusible substance may be a non-conductor if the cable is not intended or is not used for signed as to be used in connecting the end of the cable to a bus-bar, dynamo-electric machineor other apparatus, or may be so deslgned as to receive the ends of two separate cables for connecting them together or for connecting them both to a terminal.

In the drawings, the figure shows a central longitudinal section through one form which my invention may assume.

In the specific form illustrated, I employ a. socket 10, having an annular wall 11 and an end "wall 12 defining a chamber 13. The annular wall 11 is of frusto-conical form, with the end wall 12 at the base thereof, so that the entrance opening to the chamber is of less diameter than the portion of the chamber adjacent to the end wall. The inclined inner surface of the annular wall 11, therefore, forms an inclined shoulder which .lies at an acute angle to the axis of the chamber. The socket is designed for use in connection with a cable 14, having an outer insulating coating and a group of strands 15, the diameter of which is but slightly less than that of the entrance opening to the chamber. In the drawing, I have shown these strands as being slightly twisted or spirally disposed, in accordance with the usual practice in manufacturing such cables. The socket adjacent to the end wall 12 has an attaching lug 16, which may be of any desired character, depending upon the nature of the apparatus to which the cable is to be connected, but preferably the lug is provided with an aperture, through which a bolt, screw or rivet may extend for securing the lug in place. Within the socket I incorporate a body of solder 17, prior to the insertion of the cable therein, and preferably the solder forms, with the socket, a single article of manufacture and sale. The mass of solder 17 is shown as constituting a wall across the end of the chamber and adjacent to and in engagement with the end wall 12. As the chamber at this point is of ment with the mass of solder.

the end of the cable, and in use, the insulation is cut away from the outside of the strands until a sufficient portion of the latter is exposed to permit the end of the strands to come adjacent to or into engage- After the parts are assembled, as shown, heat is applied to the exterior of the socket for. a sufiicient length of time, and at a sufiieient temperature to melt, or partially melt, the solder. .The latter will flow into engagement with the ends of the strands, and with the sides of at least a portion of said strands, and when permitted to cool, will form a positive joint between the strands and the socket. Even though the solder should not be properly melted or should not properly adhere to the wall of the socket, or should not properly adhere to the strands of, the

cable, it is evident that it will enter;, into the interstices between the strands, and will enter the Wedge-shaped or tapered annular space around the strands and will occupy a space of greater diameter than the entrance opening to the chamber, so that the'strands cannot be pulled out under any .eircumstances. To better insure the proper-union of the solder with the wall of the socket,- the latter may if desired be tinned or otherwise coated. As the strands substantially.-' close the only entrance opening to the chamber, .i t is evident that the solder-may be melted:

with the socket in any position without danger of the solder flowing out of the socket. This is a marked advantage over such constructions as necessitate the melting of the solder in a separate receptacle,

and the pouring of it in through a special opening into the chamber, as is required in 'certainconstructions heretofore employed.

- ceive a cable end and a mass of solder within said socket adjacent to said end wall and of larger diameter than the cable receiving opening and adapted to be melted by the application of heat to the exterior of said socket and enter the annular space between said peripheral wall and'the periphery of said cable.

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of New York this 12th 'day of September A. D. 1914 EDWARD HALL FAILE.

Witnesses:

C. W. FAIRBANK, FLORENCE LEVIEN. 

